Fed-up charter school advocates rally in Albany for equal funding
Fired-up charter school advocates blasted the state Department of Education for “discriminatory treatment” as demonstrators pushing for equal funding rallied in Albany on Tuesday.
“NYSED officials have either forgotten or are willfully ignoring the fact that charter schools are public schools,” said Miriam Raccah, CEO of the Black, Latinx and Asian Charter Collaborative, a nonprofit that serves 24 community-based schools across the state.
“We are calling on NYSED to level-set the discrepancy in funding that puts our students of color in communities of need at the back of the class.”
NYC public schools’ $37.6 billion budget includes $3 billion in state-mandated payments to charters. Advocates claim bias against charters that’s created a disparity in “an effort to oppress innovation and ingenuity.”
“By excluding them from State and Federal funding NYSED is making an arbitrary distinction between traditional public school (their schools) and charters (our schools),” said Rafiq Kalam-Id-Din, founder of Ember Charter Schools for Mindful Education.
“Different doesn’t mean ineligible. Non-traditional doesn’t mean disqualified. Public is public, and charters are public and they deserve equitable funding.”
State Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Staten Island) said we can’t discount the importance of charter schools and is holding out hope they’ll get a win in the budget.
“While charter schools find a typical role model, they do have greater successes in New York City Public Schools, in my opinion, charter schools save lives,” he said.
The Post has reached out to the state DOE and state Education Committee. The city DOE referred The Post to the state DOE for comment.
About 182,000 students are currently enrolled in 343 charter schools across the state.
Ninety percent of students enrolled in city charter schools are black and Hispanic, 80% come from low-income families and nearly 20% have special needs.
Students from charter schools have also been known to outscore public school peers in both English language arts at 57% to 52% and math 63% to 50%.
“Charter schools educate the same communities as traditional public schools and enhance the public school system by giving families a choice of which school best meets their child’s unique needs,” said Heather Marcano, a parent of a charter school student at Lamad Academy in Brooklyn.
“We stand together today to demand justice and advocate for equitable funding for charter schools. Every student in NYS has a right to a public-school education. It’s the law.”
The longshot push comes as any action on charter schools has has sidelined from state budget negotiations while lawmakers look to roll back Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed changes to the education funding formula for public schools.
Hochul’s budget proposal would keep state funding for charters steady at $185 million for supplemental tuition aid and $120 million for facilities improvements.
The state Senate’s one-house budget proposal released earlier this month would also add nearly $1 million to fund the DOE’s charter school operations office. State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa told lawmakers at a budget hearing earlier this year that the office had previously been propped up using federal dollars.
Lawmakers led by state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) are pushing for the state to double security grants to $60 million for non-public schools in the wake of rising antisemitism.